Save the Economy vs Save Lives: The Narrative of People’s Responses to Trump’s Lehigh Valley Visit
Written by Juliana on May 15, 2020
Save the Economy vs Save Lives: The Narrative of People’s Responses to Trump’s Lehigh Valley Visit
By Tyler Pratt
May 15, 2020
President Donald Trump visited the Lehigh Valley Thursday, May 14, to tour a medical supply company and announce new plans for the Strategic National Stockpile. As WLVR’s Tyler Pratt reports, hundreds of people from across Pennsylvania gathered in Allentown to greet the president and protest his arrival.
Jen – first name only – and her fiancé, have a cardboard tombstone on top of their car. They’re part of a so-called mobile cemetery headed to the airport to meet President Trump. She says the caravan represents tens of thousands of people who have died from COVID-19.
“We want to protest Trump – we don’t believe he has done anything to help with this virus. We don’t feel like he should be greeted with open arms when he is trying to open our state and counties without listening to science.”
But just a few minutes across town Trump is greeted with open arms. Teri Hoagland and Terri Keeler stand in a sea of people on the road in red white and blue hoping to catch a glimpse of the President. They kiss each other on the cheek.
“We hug, we hang out together, we’re not social distancing. We’re not wearing masks and none of us have gotten sick,” said Hoagland.
The majority of people at the rally don’t have masks. Several say they don’t believe the science on the virus. And almost everyone says they just want to get back to work.
For more on this story, watch Staci Inez and Chloe Nouvelle’s PBS39 News Tonight Coverage.
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